


We're Damned After All

by queen_WentRed



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: F/F, I don't plan to skip the gore so you have been warned, Paranormal AU, Sort of planned out, although it probably won't be that bad idk, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:34:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25792162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queen_WentRed/pseuds/queen_WentRed
Summary: Renee woke up alone in the middle of nowhere a little over a year ago, knowing nothing nothing but her first name and accompanied by the voices in her head. After a chance meeting with a woman named Natalie Paquette, she is suddenly thrust straight into the world of the paranormal.Follow her journey as she discovers who she was and who she is, all while adjusting to her strange new reality!
Relationships: Wattson | Natalie Paquette/Wraith | Renee Blasey
Comments: 6
Kudos: 30





	1. A New Challenger Approaches: Ham and Turkey Sub

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing in a while, so I'm still rusty. Bear with me! I don't have the other chapters written yet but I have a good idea on where I want to take the story. But buckle up because it starts off a little slow, but it will eventually get a little crazy. AnYwAy, I'll stop rambling and let you all enjoy the first chapter!

_ She stood in a crowd of bystanders, all eagerly awaiting the demolition of the old factory that had been unused for decades. But despite the energy of the people around her, she still had an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach, cold and unrelenting. _

_ Dread. _

_ This was just supposed to be a routine demo, something that happened all the time without a problem, that was carried out by a tried and true method supported by math. Even knowing this, still that feeling of dread persisted like weeds in a garden. But it didn’t matter- she trusted her father, and if he said that it would be fine then it would be, he had never lied about something like this before. He was a blunt and honest man, qualities she admired. But no matter how helpful her father’s promises were, the anxiety- the faint whispers- wouldn’t fade. _

* * *

  
  


**WAKE UP. **

Renee stirred, eyelids fluttering.

**YOU’RE NOT SAFE.**

Another toss, another turn.

**YOU NEED TO EAT.**

Grumbling she squeezed her eyes shut, praying for just a minute longer to linger in the sweet embrace of sleep. A rare enough occurrence in and of itself. 

But eventually the voices proved too loud and numerous to ignore, and Renee slowly sat up, rubbing the last echoes of sleep from her bloodshot eyes. She crawled out of her shelter; an old refrigerator box that was held up on either side by trash and reinforced with duct tape. Wincing as her bare foot landed in a muddy puddle on the alley’s floor, she stretched and pulled her greasy black hair into a messy, tangled bun.

Nagged by pangs of hunger Renee set out to acquire some form of nutrition, deciding to try her luck at a diner she had come across a few blocks away. 

Renee pulled her raggedy scarf further up her face, moving through the misty streets of a city she doesn’t know the name to.

By the time she had reached the diner, the early morning sun was barely visible through the dreary clouds of smog and water hovering around the rooftops of the giant skyscrapers.

In comparison, the quaint diner “Auntie Flapjack” was like David next to Goliath, but she found she didn’t mind. The lights in the kitchen were on, but the chairs in the dining area were still up -so she assumed there was still a while before they opened. That was fine for her; she never intended to actually eat  _ in _ the diner. 

Quietly, Renee walked down an alley to the back of the restaurant where her treasure lay. She quickly made her way to the large green garbage bin that stood against the back wall of the alley. Wasting no time, Renee started to sort through the trash, looking for discarded scraps that wouldn’t kill her by ingesting them. As she searched, she tried to keep an ear out for any signs of a person approaching, but didn’t stress too much -deciding to spend most of her focus searching the bin. Besides, the voices usually warned her ahead of time if someone was coming. 

Her arrogance would be her downfall.

She had just opened a particularly rancid trash bag and nearly hurled, but a familiar chill ran down her spine, swiftly followed by a curt warning. 

**SOMEONE’S COMING.**

The diner’s back door opened to a burly, bearded and pot-bellied man. In his hand he was carrying a bag headed for the very bin Renee was elbows-deep in.

Both froze, the stranger’s mouth forming a neat ‘o’, his brows tilted upwards in surprise. Recovering quickly, Renee grabbed the first thing that she touched, some kind of half-eaten sandwich, before booking it back the way she came, ignoring the shouts of protest from the man.

She didn’t stop. 

At least not until her lungs and legs burned, and the voices she so loathed insisted she was in the clear. Gasping, she leaned against the nearest wall, trying to calm her speeding heart. 

After a few minutes, she moved off the wall and into the alley next to her. Finally, Renee got a good look at what she had grabbed; it was a sandwich, a ham and turkey sandwich Renee thought. But overall it was pretty standard.

Well, standard if you ignored the fact that it was half eaten and had a slightly sour smell. 

Renee stared at it, debating on whether or not she should risk it. Following what appeared to be today’s trend, the voices did the opposite of help; they seemed to be pretty evenly split on eating it or not. The differing opinions of the disembodied voices seemed to only grow in volume, as if attempting to drown the other side out. The internal debate quickly dissolving into an unintelligible mess. 

As chaos reigned in her head, Renee tried her hardest not to just collapse right there and then. At that moment, she was willing to do anything to make the pain stop. So as you can probably guess, she acted without thinking things through. Because if the pain came from whether or not she should eat the damn sandwich, then surely just getting it over with would fix the issue. Swallowing, Renee only briefly hesitated, her face twisted into a pain-filled grimace before saying to hell with it and taking as big a bite as she could. 

That was a mistake. 

It tasted almost as bad as it smelled, and if the civil war in her head was bad before, then now it was more of a world war. It had risen to a thundering crescendo, the wall of noise creating a splitting migraine that seemed determined to pound her skull into dust. 

As the pain kept growing, her surroundings kept fading as Renee dropped to the filthy ground, curling in on herself. The voices were so loud, the pain too intense, and before long Renee felt the fresh contents her stomach held leaving her body. 

The sandwich had smelt bad, somehow tasted worse -but the feeling of it all coming back up (with the added burn of her stomach acid) had to take the cake for the shittiest part of the whole process.

She wanted to laugh. 

To think a simple half-eaten sandwich would turn out to be her arch-nemesis; she would have been rolling, out of breath from the pure absurdity any other time. But now suddenly, the thought didn’t bring forth so much as a chuckle, her breath stolen by the tears and screams coming forth without her permission. 

She tried to think, she knew she had to stop this, she had to do  _ something  _ dammit! But the pain was too intense, the voices too jarring.

Renee shut her eyes, and tried to breathe.

It took awhile, but eventually she got into a somewhat steady rhythm. 

_ In…. Out…. _

_ In…. Out…. _

_ In…. Out…. _

Slowly, Renee began to regain perception of her surroundings, the rancid smell of her vomit hitting her first. 

Stumbling slightly, she rose on shaky legs, and started walking. She lacked a specific destination, but Renee knew there was no way she could even dream of rearranging her thoughts with her own puke not even a foot in front of her.

After walking for a few blocks, her head felt clearer, and decided to clean herself as much as she could in the bathroom of the gas station she found herself in front of.

The employee at the front desk gave her a strange look, but otherwise handed her the key without question. She turned on the water and tried to clean her face the best she could. After, Renee cupped her hands, shoveling a decent amount of water into her mouth before swishing and spitting it back out. She did this a few times before the rotten taste started to fade. 

With a sigh, Renee met her own bloodshot eyes in the mirror, wondering how much more of this she could take. Living each day just barely surviving was taking its toll on her already fragile mental state. But Renee couldn’t see a way out. She only really knew her first name, and even then had no way of actually  _ proving _ that. So there weren’t a lot of options job wize, and Renee’s battered pride refused to resort to begging. Because begging would mean that she was helpless, incapable of caring for herself. That idea would never sit well with her. 

Renee would rather die on the streets than rely solely on the charity of others. 

She was taken out of her thoughts by a knock at the door. 

“Uh…. I kinda need the key back.” A pause, then another unenthused sentence. “You didn’t kill yourself in there right? ‘Cause that’s happened before.. The extra paperwork was hell, so… If you could do that somewhere else that’d be great. Or don’t kill yourself at all I guess.” Renee scoffed; gee she wasn’t sure wasn’t planning on it, but after that  _ oh so encouraging  _ speech there was _no way_ she was going to just end it all right there . Five stars for that employee, they really are wasting their talents in this shitty gas station. 

“Hey, look, if you don’t at least respond I’m gonna have to-”

The employee jumped back, almost getting hit with the door as Renee forcefully shoved it open. The rusty bathroom key pushed into her hands as Renee quickly strode past, roughly bumping shoulders with the lanky teen. 

Feeling both cleaner and more annoyed, Renee decided to make another attempt at feeding herself. The plan was to head to the Wendy’s over on Capital Street and hopefully get some food either stealing some or getting some from the trash. But that adventure ended before it really began. While Renee was busy trying to remember how many streets over it was, she neglected to pay attention to her surroundings. The city’s streets were pretty populated at this point in the morning, and as she rounded a corner she bumped into a solid object -or rather a solid person. 

The stranger’s coffee fell out of their hand, covering Renee’s (admittingly already dirty) shirt. Unprepared for the impact and still slightly dazed from earlier, Renee fell flat on her ass. Unsurprisingly, the concrete sidewalk was not a very comfy landing pad. She heard a curse, and soon after a pale hand was thrust into her vision. 

“Je suis vraiment désolé! I should have paid more attention to where I was going!” Blinking, Renee hesitantly took the offered hand, allowing the stranger to help her up. 

“..It’s no big deal.” She muttered, staring at her grey shirt that was most definitely going to need to be replaced. That, or soaked in bleach for a year -the shirt was already a mess before the addition of the giant coffee stain, but now there was no way she could actually wear it in public without people getting the memo that she was homeless. 

“No, non! This really should have been avoided.” The stranger paused, before reaching into her backpack. “Here- let me at least give you the money to clean it, or buy a new one.” 

Renee looked up, studying the stranger. She looked to be around her age, probably younger, and wore blue leggings with a white shirt and puffy orange jacket. Her short blonde hair mostly hidden by a grey beanie. Her blue eyes practically glowed, freckles dotted her skin like stars, and her smile was kind and without malice. But her most striking feature was the almost web-like scarring on the right side of her face, starting below the collar of her shirt and ending just below her eye. 

Realizing she was staring, a light blush dusted her cheeks. “Thanks for the offer, but I don’t take charity. Sorry.” The apology was added almost as an afterthought, and it wasn’t clear what exactly she was apologizing for. There were plenty of options. 

But the stranger was undeterred, “Are you sure? It really isn’t a problem!” But her insistence was met with a shake of the head from Renee. However, she was nothing if not stubborn. “Well, if you won’t take charity, will you take payment?” She paused, before seeming to get an idea, “Actually, I have a job tomorrow that I could use some assistance with, and if you help then it won’t be charity. Win win, non?”

Renee took a moment to consider, she  _ did  _ just say that work was hard to come by. So it would be stupid to turn it down. Plus, there was something about this woman, the voices were completely silent for once, seeming to not quite know what to make of this situation. So, fueled by curiosity and her need for money, Renee found herself agreeing to meet Ms.Natalie Paquette tomorrow evening at an old abandoned apartment building on the other side of town. 

If only she had known what she was getting herself into...

  
  
  
  



	2. The End of the Beginning (pt.1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so I'm back! This chapter took a little longer than I expected but I hope it was worth the wait! This chapter was a blast to write though it is a little dialog heavy. I have a lot of world building done for this story and I want to try to make sure things are explained clearly to you guys while also seeming natural in the story. I think I found a nice balance in this chapter, but let me know what you think!
> 
> I'll stop rambling now, enjoy!

_ The explosives went off too early, crew members still inside the factory; rechecking the TNTs placement. It was a surprise to most, but not to her. Seconds before the bombs went off something seemed to shift in the air.  _

_ Something almost like an itch started in the back of her brain, the unintelligible whispers coming together to form an almost coherent sentence.  _

**_DANGER M-_ **

_ Those were the last words she heard before her ears were drowned in explosions and screams.  _

* * *

  
  
  


Renee starred up at the old apartment complex. She was sure she was early, but without a clock to reference Renee would rather wait then miss her one chance to earn some cash.

By whatever luck she seemed to have left she didn’t have to wait long; within a few minutes a pale-green beat up Toyota Sienna pulled up to the curb, stopping a few feet from Renee.

The drivers side door opened, and Natalie stepped out wearing an outfit not unlike the one from the previous day. The main difference was the grey beanie had been replaced with modified blue headphones. 

“Bonsoir Renee!” Natalie smiled, “I hope it wasn’t too difficult to find this place?” 

“Uh… no.” Renee tried again, “I mean, it wasn’t too hard, you gave pretty good directions.” 

Natalie giggled, a sound that seemed to brighten up the night itself, and Renee felt an involuntary grin crawl onto her face in response. 

The moment ended almost as quickly as it came, Natalie clapping her hands and moving to open the trunk. 

“Renee? Would you mind helping me unload the equipment? It is rather heavy and I’d rather not drop it. Ce serait ennuyeux.”

“Equipment?” She asked as she followed Natalie to the back of the van. 

“Yes, we will need it for tonight.” A slight pause, then Natalie seemed to remember something before face-palming. “Je suis un idiot! I completely forgot to actually  _ tell  _ you what we are doing here didn’t I?”

She didn’t speak French, but from what little she did know she felt safe saying they were both idiots. Renee was so desperate to earn any kind of money that she just agreed without really thinking it over, and _apparently_ without even knowing what she was supposed to be doing! 

The voices seemed as disappointed in her as she was, but they were just background noise. 

“It’s fine!” She rushed to say, realizing she was probably supposed to respond to that question. Or at the very least not stand there starring. “If anything it’s my fault for just accepting without really knowing what I was signing up for.”

Natalie responded with a nervous grin, “Oui bien, I suppose there is no better time than the present. Non?” Renee nodded, she didn’t really care, she was willing to carve out a mountain - so long as she got paid. There was nothing Natalie could throw at her that she couldn’t handle.

  
  


“Well Renee! Tonight we will be ghost hunting!”

Well, almost nothing.

She blinked, “I’m sorry wha-”

“Though I believe the better term is ghost  _ observing _ , mais ce n’est pas vraiment grave.” 

Renee gaped, “Are you serious?!” 

Natalie looked at her like _ Renee _ was the one talking about observing ghosts as a profession. “Oui, it shouldn’t be dangerous though, with the proper equipment it should all go off without a hitch.” She waved her hand dismissively, “Besides we are just observing, the goal isn’t to make serious contact. That’s why I didn’t bring any psychics with me tonight.” 

“Okay, but  _ ghosts _ ?!” 

Natalie merely put a hand on her hip, responding like she dealt with this kind of situation five times a day -which granted, she probably  _ did _ but still. “Renee, have you ever seen something you couldn’t explain, or felt something you shouldn’t have felt? It is no coincidence that most humans have a built in fear of the dark.” She gestured to the apartment they were supposed to be entering. “I mean, just  _ look. _ It doesn’t take a sensitive to feel something off about that place!” 

Natalie paused, giving Renee time to think it over. She would be a bit of a hypocrite if she brushed Natalie off. She regularly followed the advice of voices in her head for crying out loud! And regardless, she  _ really _ needed the cash. Plus didn’t she just get done saying she would be able to handle  _ anything _ Natalie threw at her? What was the worst that could happen by just humoring her?

“..Alright. Alright I believe you.” Renee forced out, not really fooling anyone. “And besides, it’s a little late to back out now.”

Despite Renee’s hesitation, Natalie beamed. “Parfait!” She pulled a ramp out from the trunk. “Now, let’s get this unloaded si tu es prêt?”

Something told Renee that whatever she chose to do tonight would affect more than she realized, that whatever she did from this point on would have consequences. With that in mind, Renee took a deep breath and gave Natalie her best determined smile.

  
  


“Yeah. Yeah let’s do this.”

___

  
  


It took them a while; some of the devices that were in the trunk were heavier than they looked. But before long all the needed equipment was in the living room of the first floor apartment. The room was a decent size, not huge by any means, but livable. But it had clearly been a long time since it had actually been lived in, the room was covered in dust and what little furniture remained was old and worn. The dated carpet showed signs of drunk teenagers and stoners. They had decided to put the  equipment in the center of the room, right by the door. Natalie had called the spot their “base camp” for the night. Renee was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that they were going to be spending the night observing _ghosts_.

Renee scanned the various machines, still entirely skeptical of this whole thing. As if she read her mind, Natalie spoke. 

“Ghosts are strange entities that are still being studied -and from what we have been able to figure out- are mostly made up of energy left from their life, and there have been cases where they steal even more energy from living things. It’s those kinds of ghosts that are  _ really _ dangerous.” 

“There are some people who are naturally sensitive to the energy these ghosts possess, but for most -myself included- they might as well not even be there, and we can only somewhat see the very powerful and very dangerous ones.” She paused, giving Renee a sort of half smile, like they were sharing an inside joke. “As you can imagine, this is a bit of a problem for what we are doing non?”

“So what investigators like myself have done is create devices that pick up what we cannot, allowing us to observe ghosts on a level similar to a psychic.” She gestured to one of the devices, “For example, this ‘Spirit Box’ emits radio frequencies that can be manipulated by a ghost’s energy. This allows the ghost to be heard.” 

The blonde pointed at her headphones. “That is one of the main purposes of these. They are sort of like having a Spirit Box on my head, allowing me to hear the ghosts in real time and more clearly.” 

Her smile, previously carefree and giddy -like when you were discussing your favorite show- grew sheepish. 

“I.. I actually designed these headphones myself. I designed and improved a lot of this myself actually.”

Renee starred -the existence of ghosts be damned- that was still impressive. “That’s amazing Natalie.. I-i don’t think I could do something like that.” 

The engineer blushed, “T-thank you. But it really isn’t all that impressive, I did have help from my colleagues.”

“Still, it’s more than most could claim.”

“Thank you, but we should get started, as it gets later the entities tend to get more active.”

The two women started to prepare, either setting up cameras around the various rooms and floors or preparing some of the more complicated equipment. (Though it was mostly Natalie who handled that part.) 

So far it was going well, nothing had really happened, but that was fine in Renee’s book. Nothing good happening meant nothing bad happening, and that was always a win for her.

Still, there was a bad feeling brewing in the pit of her stomach, and the voices were even more paranoid than usual. 

**SOMEONE’S WATCHING.**

Renee spun on her heel, searching the dim hallway for Natalie, who the voices were probably referring to. 

But Natalie was nowhere to be found; and neither was anyone else for that matter. There wasn’t even a camera facing her, she was just about to set this floor’s camera up.

But she brushed it off, and finished setting up the camera. Still, the goosebumps on her arms didn’t go away as she moved to the next floors, staying until she was back in the comforting glow of the lights they had set up in their “base camp”. 

Natalie was in the middle of setting up a large object that looked like it was ripped right from the power plant. 

The blonde noticed her starring, and offered a quick smile, dusting off her hands and she stood. 

“Ah, Renee, the last camera up?” Renee gave a swift nod. “Bien! Good! I was just finishing the set up here. We should be all good to go here shortly.” 

Renee glanced again at the device in the center of their “base camp”. “Great.. But uh, what does  _ that _ do?”

Natalie turned to look at where she had gestured, her brows slightly creased in confusion. “Hmm, oh! Ce? That is my special pylon, another of my inventions pertaining to the paranormal! It is the heart of the base camp for a reason; should the entities on site prove to be more of a threat than anticipated, this should be more than enough to keep them out. If this were a full investigation with a full team, then it would also serve as a quiet place for the psychic to rest. Because the pylon is designed to keep out the supernatural, it has the unintended effect of canceling out or reducing a psychic's abilities while they are in range.” 

Renee raised a brow. “Wait, a ‘full team’? You mean there are more investigators you work with?” 

Natalie giggled. “Oh course! Mon Dieu; doing a full investigation would be a pain without a team.” She sighed, “I was supposed to be doing this with one of my coworkers actually, but he had to cancel last minute. It turns out tonight conflicts with his anniversary with his boyfriend.” 

“Ah..”

“Yes, I do wish he would have realized the conflict sooner, but these things happen.” She met Renee’s gaze. “That was actually why I was so ex- _static_ to find out you were willing to do this job!” 

Renee snorted, looking at the ground. “Yeah, well I was just as glad you were actually willing to hire me.” 

She paused, hesitating before continuing. “I-it hasn’t really been easy for me to find work lately.”

An awkward silence fell over the women, neither knowing quite the right thing to say next. 

The shrill beep of Natalie’s alarm spared them both the trouble, and they both rushed to the laptop, ready to move on. 

The EMF meter on the third floor was going off, picking up unusual energy spikes. 

Renee paled, the third floor was where the voices had warned her.

“Vite Renee!” Natalie handed Renee a handheld video recorder before grabbing a few devices for herself. “All I need you to do is follow me and record, d'accord?” 

She didn’t wait for her response, already heading for the stairs. Renee trailed not far behind, trying to turn on the camera without falling up the stairs. 

When they reached the third floor, Renee had to stop herself from running into Natalie. Though she was quick to get up here, the blonde was now moving cautiously, putting on bulky goggles and scanning the room. 

She was afraid to make too much noise, sure, but Renee was more afraid of screwing up the recording. “Hey. Is there a special mode I should put the camera on?”

“Non.” She looked back at Renee just long enough to make eye-contact. “Cameras, for whatever reason, are the exception. They have always had a knack for picking up the paranormal.” 

“Alright then, ready when you are.”

The two crept out of the stairwell, moving into the main hallway for the floor. 

It was like stepping into a freezer, and Renee reflexively moved back to the stairwell. 

Natalie however seemed used to this, and moved forward with what could almost be described as excitement. Against the will of every fiber in her body, Renee followed the blonde. 

The pair continued farther into the third floor apartment, heading towards the kitchen where the EMF meter was located. 

The small device was still going off, blue lights flashing. Natalie seemed to check something on it quickly, before pulling out a microphone from her bag and connecting it to her headset. 

She turned to Renee -to the camera- and started talking. 

“Bonjour à tous! It is currently April 27th, 11:36 PM. I am here in an abandoned apartment building in Capital City, investigating claims of paranormal activity from several witnesses! People have claimed to feel unusual amounts of fear and paranoia while in the building, and there is a report of a passerby seeing someone in the window that almost seemed to glow! However, there is less to go on then our usual hunts, so I’m here to see what’s ‘undead’!”

Renee cringed, that one was pretty bad.

But Natalie continued, “Get it? Non? Oh well, that wasn’t one of my best!” She laughed it off. “Anyway, shortly after setting up our equipment we got a hit on the EMF meter on the third floor, so my assistant and I came to check it out.”

Natalie gestured for the ‘audience’ to come closer, and Renee got the memo, quickly focusing the camera on the EMF meter on the counter. 

“I went and checked the device; and sure enough there was a large spike in energy -too large to be just a fluke. I’m not sure yet what we are dealing with, but it isn’t natural!” 

Renee moved farther back, making sure Natalie was clearly visible. 

“The next step mes amis is to try to make contact with this spirit, if it’s strong enough to do so. But from the readings I think there shouldn’t be too much of a problem!”

Natalie sent the camera a dazzling grin, “I’ll get back to you if we make contact!” 

She made the signal to stop recording, and Renee fumbled for a moment before finding the off switch. She sighed, nervously looking up through her bangs. “Was that alright?” She asked, voice soft and vulnerable like a child who had just performed for the first time in front of their parents. 

The blonde’s clear blue eyes relaxed, a comforting smile appearing on her face. “You did great I’m sure, it will be hard to beat the trainwreck that is Octavio’s filming.” She giggled, a sound that didn’t fit with the ominous atmosphere. “Now come, let me show you how we normal people commune with the dead!”

As Natalie explained how she used a microphone, a custom-made app on her phone, and her headset to talk to the dead, Renee tried to listen. 

Tried. 

The white noise that had been sitting in the back of her mind grew louder, drowning out everything around her, and a cold chill ran down her spine. 

Yet she felt like she was burning, and it was like she could feel her surroundings, like they were giving off light that only she could see. 

There was a voice -not one she had heard before- but it was too faint to understand. Renee strained her ears, trying to make out the whispered frases, but was snapped out of it by Natalie’s hand on her shoulder. 

If her laugh didn’t go with the setting, then her voice was like turning on the lights in the middle of a play. 

“Are you alright Renee? You seemed to be in your own world.”

She blinked, the strange voice from before gone. “I-i’m sorry.”

Renee met her gaze, “This place- It's just, I don’t know, odd. It doesn’t feel right.”

Natalie looked at her companion for a second, thinking about how best to explain it. “Yes well, do you remember how I said ghosts let off energy?” 

At Renee’s nod she continued, “Well living creatures -more specifically humans- can sense that energy, and that triggers our fight or flight response. Some people are more sensitive to that stuff than others, and we call them sensitives.”

Renee swallowed, “So.. then sensitives are basically psychics then?”

Natalie shook her head. “Non, all psychics are sensitives but not all sensitives are psychics. To be a psychic you have to train and learn to connect with the dead in ways few can.” 

She turned her gaze to the digital clock on her wrist. “Now really, we should start actually investigating.” Natalie turned to give Renee a quick smile. “If you have any questions I would be more than happy to answer them in the morning.” 

They spent the next hour or so trying to make contact with the spirit(s) inhabiting the building, but for every question Natalie received no response. 

But Renee felt the pressure in her skull returning, and she had to force herself not the shiver and mess up the recording. Oddly, every time Natalie asked a question, the faint voice from before seemed to return. Renee thought to mention it to Natalie, but she figured it was just one of her voices. But this one didn’t sound like the voices she was used to. While the voices she usually dealt with felt like thoughts or observations that had a voice of their own. But this new voice felt like an invader, like a visitor in her head. 

Eventually the two made their way up to the fourth and final floor, stopping in what looked to be an old bedroom. According to Natalie, this was the room where the dog walker thought he saw a glowing transparent person.

The second Renee crossed the doorway she felt like she got hit by a bus. Every negative thing she had been experiencing before seemed to increase in intensity tenfold. 

Renee couldn’t stop the whimper as she all but dropped the camera, hands clutching at her ears.

The strange voice was clearer now, and although it spoke at a volume barely above a whisper it felt like it was screaming.

**_are you here to help me?_ **

How do I help you!?

**_papa_ _said he was getting a doctor._ **

Renee felt tears form in her eyes, and she didn’t have the energy to stop them.

**_i didn’t know there were girl doctors. _ **

She vaguely registered Natalie crouching down in front of her, her face twisted with concern. 

**_i feel cold, and mommy hasn’t come in a while, is she with you?_ **

It was all too much; the ache in her head kept growing and every time Renee thought it peaked it just got  _ worse _ . She felt like she couldn’t breathe, her lungs tight and agitated. What little air did enter felt like acid to her shot nerves. 

She was shaking and she couldn’t stop. The voices she knew drowned out the new one, but they were too manic to decipher. 

Everything was just so  _ loud _ . 

Renee just wanted it to end. All of it. 

She was so tired of this, of the pain, the voices, they were making each day complete and utter agony and she didn’t know how much longer she could go on. 

  
  


___

  
  


Silence.

  
  
  
  
  
  


Silence?

Renee squeezed her eyes tighter together, concentrating. 

It wasn’t a joke. The voices really were gone. She felt the first genuine smile that she remembered creep onto her face. 

Was this heaven? Was she dead? Is that why she felt so numb?

As Renee regained her senses, she heard a faint buzzing sound and shuffling.

Slowly, she opened her pale grey-blue eyes, before being tackled in a hug. Had she not been sitting she probably would have fallen over. 

Natalie had apparently dragged her back down to their base camp, and was her current ‘attacker’.

“..Natalie?” Her throat felt hoarse, like she had been screaming. 

Her misty eyes shot up to meet Renee’s. 

“Renee?”

“..Are you alright?”

Natalie shot up, and Renee found she missed the grounding warmth. 

“Am  _ I  _ alright!? De quoi diable parlez-vous?! Are  _ you  _ alright?”

Renee looked down at her lap. “I… I think so? The voices are gone at least, they’ve never been this silent.” She sighed. “What happened?”

“We had gone up to the fourth floor to check out the room where the figure had been spotted, but when we entered you suddenly collapsed. You were muttering, then you were screaming.” She hugged her arms around herself. “I didn’t know what else to do so.. I took you down here to the pylon. That seemed to do something. Even so, you’ve been out for a few hours..”

“Thank you.” The simple frase held a weight to it, and both women knew Renee meant it. But she meant her next words more. 

“And I’m sorry, for this.”

Natalie to her credit seemed genuinely surprised by the apology. 

“What do you mean?”

“This sort of thing, it happens more often than I’d like.” Renee’s brows furrowed, “It’s never been this bad before but still, that’s no excuse. I should have told you.” 

She paused. “I.. I was just afraid that if I said something you would change your mind, and I need all the cash I can get right now.” She let out a dry chuckle, “When most people find out I have little voices in my head they don’t tend to stick around.”

Renee’s miny pity party was cut short by a hand on her shoulder. Grey-blue met sky blue and for a moment neither spoke, content to study the other.

Eventually though, Natalie spoke, her words soft and full of compassion. “You really have nothing to apologize for. If anything this is my fault.” 

Now Renee was confused, how was this Natalie’s fault?

“I should have noticed this sooner, honnêtement! I work with psychics for living, one would think at this point I would be able to notice a sensitive, especially on an active site!” 

“What do you mean?” Renee’s expression was impossible to decipher. 

“What I mean is -comment ne l'ai-je pas vu?- you are a sensitive Renee, which means being here is asking for trouble.” 

Renee gaped, not at all knowing how to respond to that. 

“Look, I know this is probably a lot to process. So how about this; 

Come back with me to the office, and after some rest and food we can talk it out. Plus, my coworkers will probably be more help than I am.”

Natalie paused, extending her hand for Renee to take. 

“What do you say? Es-tu dans?”

Renee briefly hesitated before taking her hand. “Alright. At the very least it’s better than sleeping out in the street.”

The two quickly packed up the equipment, Renee not straying far from the pylon, which was saved for last. By the time they were ready to go the sun’s first rays were just appearing over the horizon. Renee got in the passenger's seat, feeling oddly calm after the night she had. 

She heard the trunk click closed, and soon after Natalie was in the driver’s seat, turning the van on. She turned to Renee, dark circles now visible under eyes in the morning light. Renee doubted she looked any better. 

“We have a little over an hour until we get there, feel free to take a nap on the way there.”

Renee didn’t need to be told twice. 

While it usually took some time and effort for the lull of sleep to come, it seemed like the second she closed her eyes it was there, pulling her away from the troubles of the world. 

Soon enough, she was dead to the world ; h arsh memories she only half-remembered playing in her head like a somber lullaby.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's that! 
> 
> I'm not sure when the next chapter will come out, but hopefully somewhere in the next two weeks. I don't have as much of an idea on where I'm going with that one as I did for this one, but I think it'll be fine in the end. 
> 
> If you have any questions on how ghosts, sensitives and psychics work in this world feel free to ask in the comments below! I'll try my best to answer.(so long as it's not going to spoil the story)   
> If you just want to tell me what you thought of the chapter that works too! It makes my day to read feedback on what I wrote, good or bad. It let's me know I'm not just writing this for my own guilty pleasure.. ^o^;
> 
> Anyways, have a great day!

**Author's Note:**

> There it is! I hope you enjoyed! As I said, though I have a lot of this story planned out, it isn't yet written. So in other words I have no clue when the fuck I'll have the second chapter done. But hopefully it should be out sometime next week.   
> Let me know in the comments what you think of it so far, and any theories you have on where this will go! (closet guess gets a cookie) I'll see you in chapter 2!


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